Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.
After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.
During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.
Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.
As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.
After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.
O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.
Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.
2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.
Ain't Misbehaving
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
I know for certain
I'm through with flirtin'
It's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don't go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin' for
Believe me
I don't stay out late
Don't care to go
I'm home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don't go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin' for
Believe me
I don't stay out late
Don't care to go
I'm home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
The song “Ain’t Misbehavin’” by Anita O’Day is a classic love song that describes the joy of being in love and the peace that comes with being in a committed relationship. The lyrics depict the singer experiencing loneliness and solitude, but despite this she remains happy and content, knowing that the love she has saved for her partner will be worth it. The singer reflects on her past experiences of flirting with others, but now she knows that the one true love she has been searching for is the one she is currently with.
The lyrics, “Like Jack Horner in the corner, don't go nowhere, what do I care? Your kisses are worth waitin' for, believe me…” shows how the singer is willing to be patient for her partner’s love, and the wait is worth it because the love she receives from this partner is priceless. The lyrics also suggest that the singer is willing to make sacrifices for their partner, as seen in the lines “I don't stay out late, don't care to go, I'm home about eight, just me and my radio”.
Overall, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a song that celebrates love and commitment. It shows how being in love can bring peace and contentment, even during times of loneliness and solitude.
Line by Line Meaning
No one to talk with
I have no companion to talk to
All by myself
I am alone
No one to walk with
I don't have anyone to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Nevertheless, I'm content being by myself
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm not being bad or deceptive
I'm savin' my love for you
I'm reserving my love for you
I know for certain
I am confident
The one I love
The person I am in love with
I'm through with flirtin'
I'm done with playing around with others
It's just you I'm thinkin' of
I only have you on my mind
Like Jack Horner
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
In a secluded place
Don't go nowhere
I don't plan on going anywhere
What do I care?
I don't care
Your kisses are worth waitin' for
I am willing to wait for your kisses
Believe me
Have faith in what I'm saying
I don't stay out late
I don't stay out until late at night
Don't care to go
I don't feel like going out
I'm home about eight
I usually arrive home around eight o'clock
Just me and my radio
I'm alone with my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm not being bad or deceptive
I'm savin' my love for you
I'm reserving my love for you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDY RAZAF, THOMAS 'FATS' WALLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aceiseverywhere
on Who Cares?
Let it rain and thunder
Let a million firms go under
I am not concerned with, stocks and bombs that I've been burned with
I love you and you love me
And that's how it will always be
And nothing else can ever mean a thing
Who cares what the public chatters?
Love's the only thing that matters
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares how history rates me?
As long as your kiss intoxicates me
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
As long as I care for you
And you care for me!
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers?
As long as you've got a kiss that conquers!
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
So long as I care for you
and you care for me!
(These lyrics might be wrong, sorry)